THE ETUC AND ITS ROLE IN ADVANCING THE CAUSE OF EUROPEAN WORKER PARTICIPATION RIGHTS

This article looks at the political development of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the peak organization representing the reg ional interests of national trade unions operating in Europe. It argue s that the ETUC is better understood as a political lobby group rather than an orthodox trade union, and that its influence at the level of European politics is the criterion by which its effectiveness should h e gauged. The vehicle used to carry this claim is a case study that el aborates the role played by the organization in Lobbying for European Union legislation on worker participation rights. The article finds th at changes in the legislative procedures of the EU and moves to implem ent a single market had positive implications for the ETUC's external political legitimacy, and that this proved influential in the spread o f worker participation practices in European multinationals and the ev entual adoption of EU legislation in this area. From these insights th e article concludes with some comment on the theory of regional trade unionism.